Before he became DC Comic's Shazam, Fawcett Comic's Captain Marvel had a plethora of family members who aided him is fight against evil. Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Uncle Marvel and Marvel Bunny to name a few. But if you think they're obscure, then you haven't met The Lieutenant Marvels! Our Z-Listers for this week!
(In left-to-right: Captain Marvel, Hill Marvel, Fat Marvel & Tall Marvel)
Created by C.C. Beck in 1941's "Whiz Comics #21", these three boys first appeared as Billy Batsons from around America. These three boys were all named Billy Batson and when each of them heard on Billy Batson in Facwett City was on the radio, they all decided to find him and form "The Billy Batson Club". To avoid confusion from the main Billy, the three chose nicknames: Billy from Western America was called "Tall Billy", the Billy from the South was "Hill Billy" and Brooklyn's Billy was known as "Fat Billy". Ouch. Also, these three Billys were physically inspired by writers over at Fawcett Comics: Tall Billy was modeled after Paul Peck, Hill Billy was modeled after Ed Hamilton, and Fat Billy was modeled after Frank Taggart. Again, ouch. When these four Billys started hanging out, the main Billy revealed to them that he was Captain Marvel. Billy's foe Doctor Sivana sends three henchmen to kidnap the three Billys and lure the main Billy out. Captain Death grabs Tall Billy, Nazi Agent Herr Geyer grabs Fat Billy and Biggy Brix grabs Hill Billy and they are held hostage at a saw mill. Sivana forces the main Billy to show up unpowered, then knocks Billy out and ties him to the mill's saw. Sivana and his goons-like all 40's villains-laughs nefariously and leaves, as all the Billy's are slowly drawn to their doom. Billy manages to get his mouth-tie off and yell "Shazam" but it wasn't loud enough. So all four Billys make the call at once and the three other Billy's transform with Captain Marvel. Tall Marvel, Hill Marvel and Fat Marvel become The Lieutenant Marvels and help Captain Marvel defeat Sivana!
These three would appear once and a while to help Captain Marvel, but in the long run didn't fully transition over to DC Comics like the other Marvels. It was a weird idea, but these characters represent the true unpredictability of Captain Marvels early adventures. They were goofy, fun and they made readers smile and wonder if one day they might be a Marvel too. And in a more innocent time, without the media looming over comic book fans, that's all comic had to be: Goofy, fun and good enough to make you smile.
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